


The Downside Tango

by TobuIshi



Category: Chicago (2002), Pyre (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 16:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12868977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TobuIshi/pseuds/TobuIshi
Summary: And now, the six lady exiles of the Nightwing Triumvirate, in their rendition of...the Downside Tango.(The following performance contains image-heavy, excessively elaborate formatting, unlikely to play well with mobile. You have been warned.)





	The Downside Tango

_Harps._

_Ink._

_Squish._

_Nothing._

_Commonwealth.  
_

_Soliam._

 

_**And now, the six lady exiles of the Nightwings Triumvirate, in their rendition of...the Downside Tango.** _

 

_Harps..._

_Ink..._

_Squish..._

_Nothing...._

_Commonwealth...  
_

_Soliam..._

 

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They said I had myself to blame_  
_But if you’d been there_  
_If you’d have seen it_  
_I’ll bet you you would have done the same_

 

  **[CAPTAIN JODARIEL]**

They say the chain of command  
can trip you up sometimes.

Take my commanding officer.  
He liked to kill children.

“No, not children. Harps.”

So I capture these young soldiers one day,  
and they’re all but infants, and  
I expect some degree of mercy,

And there stands the major,  
waving his orders,  
and pointing his sword at children.

“No, not children. Harps!”

So I said to him, that fool,  
“You take one more step toward them...”

And he did.

So I pulled _my_ sword out of its sheath,  
and I brought it down hard...

....right through their chains.

 

 

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They say I had myself to blame_  
_But if you’d been there_  
_If you’d have seen it_  
_I’ll bet you you would have done the same_

 

**[BIG BERTRUDE]**

We met Volfred Sandalwood, the revolutionary,  
many years ago,  
and he told us of his plans,  
and we were pleased with what we heard.

Thus, we began working together.

He wrote his screeds, and printed them;  
we mixed him his inks, as requested.

And then, they found out.

“Witch,” they called us. A witch, indeed!

They should know, full well, for they turned a blind eye,  
whilst our work served their purposes...

But alas for the soldiers who came for us,  
and tampered with what we left behind.

Cross not a witch,  
if thou canst not hold thy arsenic.

 

 

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They said I had myself to blame_  
_If you had been there_  
_If you had seen it_  
_I’ll bet you you would have done the same_

 

**[ERISA THE BETRAYER]**

  
So I’m standing at the anvil,  
working on some armor for a client,  
minding my own business.  
  
In storms my father, damn him, in a drunken rage.  
“You’ll never be your brother!” he shouts.  
  
He was crazy!  
  
And he kept on shouting, “You’ll never be your brother!”  
  
And then, he ran into my hammer.  
  
He ran into my hammer _ten times._

 

 

 

 

_And if he used her_  
_And he abused her_  
_How dare they tell her that she was wrong?_

 

**[THE MOON-TOUCHED GIRL]**  
  
  
How did I find myself here?  
  
They said I was moon-touched,  
that what I said, about the Scribes,  
was a danger somehow?  
  
But it’s not true.  
  
They only mean well for us!  
  
I don’t know why they chose this path for me,  
but I am happy to walk it.  
  
I tried to explain, to the Council,  
but they didn’t understand...

  
  
< _But...what did you do? >_

  
  
Nothing! Not guilty...

 

 

_I had to do it...  
I had to do it..._

 

**[PAMITHA THEYN]**  
  
  
My sister Tamitha and I were a deadly team  
in the war with the Commonwealth, down on the Bloodborder.  
  
Now, she was a combat tactician, and she knew every aerial trick in the book:  
  
Strike, swoop, turn, pass, dodge,  
split, sudden drop, ambush, back-strike...  
one kill after the other.  
  
Well, I finally got sick of it, so I struck a deal with the Commonwealth.  
  
The two of us pardoned,  
for a little information...  
  
I was tired of death, so...I thought I could play them.  
  
Next thing I know, it all goes wrong,  
and there’s my sister, captured,  
doing her signature move...  
  
The sudden drop.  
  
Well, I was so desperate to help her,  
I begged for her freedom, I don’t remember what I said.  
  
It wasn’t until later, when they were dumping me down after her,  
I figured out they’d played _me_.

 

 

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They said I had myself to blame_  
_If you’d have been there_  
_If you’d have seen it_  
_I’ll bet you you would have done the same_

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They held the power in their prime_  
_And then they used us_  
_And they abused us_  
_It was betrayal_  
_But not a crime!_

 

**[SANDRA THE UNSEEING]**  
  
  
I hated Soliam Murr  
more than I can possibly say.  
  
He destroyed everything he touched,  
that hypocrite, our emperor.  
  
And then he went off to find himself.  
  
I tracked him halfway across the Downside,  
looking for himself.  
  
But instead, he found Ha’ub, Gol,  
and his own damn salvation.  
  
I suppose you could say they punished me  
for my political opinions.  
  
They wanted the emperor reformed...  
and I wanted him _dead._

 

 

 

_The royal scum, scum, scum, scum, scum!  
The royal scum, scum, scum, scum, scum!_

 

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_He had it coming all along_  
_‘Cause if he used us_  
_And he abused us_  
_How dare they tell me that I was wrong?_

_I had to do it_  
_I had to do it_  
_They said I had myself to blame_  
_But if you’d been there_  
_If you’d have seen it_  
_I’ll bet you you would have done the same_

 

You take one more step toward them...                                                                   

“Witch,” they called us.

                                                      Ten times...

                                      I don’t know why they chose this path for me...

Her signature move...the sudden drop.                                                      

                      Political opinions.

 

  _Harps. Ink. Squish. Nothing. Commonwealth. Soliam...  
_

 

 

__ ****

**Author's Note:**

> Credit for the lovely Erisa edit goes to EctoJyunk. Dedicated to the Supergiant Games Discord, for enabling this nonsense.


End file.
